iTunes 10 for Windows: Edit song and CD information

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Edit song and CD information

When you insert a CD into your computer’s disc drive, iTunes automatically retrieves information about the CD and the songs on it if you’re connected to the Internet. When you import the CD into your library, the retrieved information is imported with it.

You can also enter CD and song information into iTunes yourself, or change the information that was retrieved.

Information about the items in your library is stored in the item’s Info window. To open an item’s Info window, select the item and then choose File > Get Info.

To change the name of the song, artist, or album:

Select the item you want to edit.

Press Enter.

Type the new information.

To edit song or CD information:

Select the song or CD you want to edit, and choose File > Get Info (or press Control-I).

Click Info and make your changes.

Tip: If you’re changing the same information for multiple items (genre, for example), you can select all the items and change the information for all of them at the same time.

To change information without changing the files on your hard disk:

By default, changing information in iTunes also changes the file’s name on your hard disk. You might not want the filenames to change if, for example, the files are used by other apps on your computer.

To make changes in iTunes without changing the file’s name:

Choose Edit > Preferences.

Click Advanced.

Deselect “Keep iTunes folder organized.”

If no information appears in the Info window:

Choose Advanced > Get CD Track Names to retrieve available song information (you must be connected to the Internet).

Here are other ways to customize song and CD info:

You can edit information in the Info window to make it easier to find and sort items in your library. For example, you can:

Group individual movements on a classical CD into one work by indicating the movement (for example, “Piano concerto in A Minor, Op. 54”) in the Grouping field.

Group songs that are part of a compilation together in your library by clicking the Info button and selecting the “Part of a compilation” checkbox.

Identify the individual artists on a tribute album in the Artist field, and type “various” in the Album Artist field.

Create your own genre category by choosing Custom from the Genre pop-up menu.

Change the order in which tracks on a CD play by changing the numbers in the Track Number fields.

Create a Smart Playlist that includes only songs that are just the right speed for your workout by adding the number of beats per minute to the BPM field. For instructions, see Create a Smart Playlist.

Identify a movie as a music video (click the Options tab, and choose Music Video from the Media Kind pop-up menu).

Change the Media Kind of an audiobook you import from a CD to Audiobook (click Options in the Info window) so that it appears under Audiobooks instead of Music. If you do this, iTunes also remembers your place in the audiobook.